Keg-rinser.



G. D. PRENTIGE.

KBG BINSBR.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV.28, 1910. Y 1,015,585,Y PatentedJanB, 1912.

6 vSHEETS-SHEBT 1.

coLuMnm PLANoGkAPn cu.. WASHING-wmv. `c.

' G. D. PRBNTIGB.-

Patentd M1123, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. D. PRENTICE.

KBG RINSER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2B, 1910. 1,015,585. Patented.12.11.23, 1912.

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 3. o l@ A l o coLUMmA pLANouRAx-u Cu.. WASHING C.

G. D. PRENTICB. KBG RINSBR. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 29, 1910.

Patented Jan..23, 1912.

Mums-SHEET 5.

G. D. PRENTIGE.

KEG RINSER.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. za, 1 910.

Patented Jan. 23, 1912'.

s SHEETS-SHEET e.

UNTTED STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. PRENTICE, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

KEG-RINSER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,505.

Patented Jan'. 23, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. PRENTIOE, a citizen of the United States,residin at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and tate of lVisconsin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Keg-Rinsers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for rinsing kegs, andit pertains to that class which are adapted to be used with water underpressure.

The object of my invent-ion is to provide a machine by which a watercontrolling valve is automatically opened by the gravity of the keg tobe rinsed, and the water supply is used for the two fold purpose ofVrinsing the kegs and removing them from the machine, whereby theoperator has simply to place a"keg upon the machine when a watercontrolling valve will be automatically opened and the keg will berinsed and automatically removed, whereby the manual labor of cleansingkegs is reduced to the minimum.

My invention is further explained by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side view of the machineshowing the keg in position to be rinsed. Fig. 2 is also a side view ofthe machine from its opposite side. Fig. 3 is a plan view of themachine. Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal section of the machine, alsoshowing the keg in position to be rinsed. Fig. 5 is an end view. Fig. 6is a detail of the valve operating mechanism, part in section. Fig. 7 isa longitudinal section of the 'water controlling valve, and Fig. 8 is afront view of the hydraulic lift, by which the power of the water isutilized for raising and discharging the kegs from the machine afterthey have been rinsed.

Like parts are identified by the same reference numerals throughout theseveral views.

1 is a tilt-ing lever, upon which a keg 2 is placed, preparatory tobeing rinsedt The lever 1 is pivotally supported from the sides of theframe 19,V by the bolt 4 in such a manner that its front e-nd is adaptedto be tilted downwardly by the gravity of the keg, when it is placedthereon, whereby motion is communicated from the front end of the lever1A to the water controlling valve 5, through the stem 6, the protrudingend 7 of which rests against the front end of the tilting lever, wherebysaid valve is opened and water is admitted from the duct 8; through thevalve chamber 9, channel 10 and spray nozzle 11 to the interior of thekeg 2, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4, whereby the interior of the kegis thoroughly rinsed.

The nozzle 11 is ofV such dimensions that it loosely :fits the bung hole12 of the keg, whereby a portion of the water which has been used inrinsing the keg flowsback through the bung hole into an oscillating tank13. The oscillating tank 13 is pivotally supported from the frame member14 on the pivot-al shaft 15, in such a manner that as said tank becomesfilled with water, it is tipped downwardly by the gravity of the watertherein, and its contents discharged, when by the movement of saidoscillating tank 13, the pivotally supported shaft 15 is turned apartial revolution, when motion is communicated through said shaft tothe water controlling valve mechanism 16, whereby water is conductedunder pressure from said valve mechanism 16 to the lower end of the socalled hydraulic lift 17 beneath the piston 18, whereby said piston israised, when motion is communicated from said piston 18 to the tiltingframe 19, through the piston zrod 20, the protruding end of which ispivotally connected with the frame 19 through the pivotal bolts 21,whereby as the front end of said frame is raised, the keg 2 is alsoraised to the position indicated by'dotted lines 22 in Fig. 1, when itrolls of its own gravity down the inclined frame 19 and is therebyremoved from the machine. As the keg 2 rolls down the inclined frame 19,as indicated in said Fig. 1, it is brought in contact with the upper armof the lever 23, whereby the upper arm of said lever 23 is forceddownwardly by the gravity of the moving keg, whereby t-he lower arm l24of said lever is thrown upwardly, when motion is communicated from thelower arm 24 of the lever to the tilting tank 13, through the flexiblemember 25, whereby said tilting tank 13 is drawn back from the positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig. l, to its normal position shown inFigs. 2 and 4. As the tilting tank l rapidly, as required,

vso

13 is thus drawn back to its normal position, the pivotally supportedshaft 15, which is adapted to be turned by the movement of said tank, isrevolved a partial revolut-ion in the opposite direction, whereby thereciprocating valve 16, shown in Fig. 7, is reversed and the supply ofwater to the hydraulic lift 17 is cut off, when the piston is forcedback to the lower end of the cylinder '18 by the gravity of the frame19, when .the machine is ready for the reception of another keg. Wateris led to the hydraulic lift 17 from the main supply duct 8, through theduct 26, said duct 26 being connected at one end with the lower end ofthe cylinder 18 by the threaded coupling 27, and at its opposite endwith said main duct 8 through the valve mechanism16. It will beunderstood that as the water flows from the keg 2, it first passesintothe receptacle 29, when a portion of such water escapes from themachinethrough the passage way 30, while the remaining portion of thewater passes from said'receptacle 29 through the overflow passage 31,when it passes from thence into the tilting tank 13 below. The relativequantities of water that are thus permitted to escape and which are ledto the tilting tank, are governed by the adjustment. of the segmentalflange 32. It will be understood that when said flange 32 is adjusted soas to partially or entirely close the passage way 30, the greaterportion of the water will flow through the passage way 31 into thetilting tank, whereby the tilting tank will ybe more quickly lled, whenthe machine will be more quickly operated, whereby a keg will bepermitted to remain upon the supporting platform a shorter period oftime. When, however, the segmental flange 32 is moved in the oppositedirection, a larger quantity of water will be permitted to escape and aless quantity will be led to the tilting tank 13, whereby the machinewill be operated less frequently and as a consequence, the keg will bepermitted to remain upon the supporting frame a greater length of time.Thus it is obvious that by the adjustment of the segmental flange 32,the machine will be caused to operate more or less it being understoodthat under ahigh pressure of water, the keg may be more rapidly cleansedand as a consequence, it will be necessary to operate the machine morerapidly. Vhen, however, the machine is operated under a lower pressure,said segmental flange is adjusted so that the machine will operate lessrapidly and as a consequence, the discharge of water into the keg willbe prolonged a greater length of time.

The lever 23 is pivotally supported from the tilting frame 19, by thepivotal shaft 33.

The frame 19 is pivotally supported from the stationary framev 34, bythe pivotal bolts 35. The valve 5 is normally retained in its closedposition by the recoil of the spiral spring 36, one end of which springrests upon the lower end of the valve chamber 9, while its upper endbears against the under side of the valve 5, whereby said valve 5 isnormally retained against its seat 37, and .lisadapted to be opened bythe downward pressure of the keg upon the pivotally supported lever 1,asstated.

The water controlling valve mechanism 16 comprises the valve` cylinder38, valve stem 39, and the cup valves 40 and 41. When the valve stem ismoved toward. the left in the position shown in Fig. 7, the water whichenters said valve cylinder through the duct 42 is retained therein bythe cup valve 41. When, however, the valve stem 39 is moved in theopposite direction, the water which enters the valve cylinder 38, passesfrom said cylinder into the outlet chamber 43, when it escapes throughthe port 44, and is led from thence through the duct 26 to the lower endof the cylinder 18 of the hydraulic lift.

The piston rod 20 of the hydraulic lift is connected with the frame 19through the lyoke 45 and pivotal bolts 21, 21, whereby as said piston 18is moved upwardly, motionis `comrmmicated therefrom to the fr ame 19through said piston rod 20, yoke 45 and pivotal bolts 21. Vhen thetilting tank 13 is filled with water and is thrown down by the gravitythereof, it moves a partial revolution upon its supporting shaft 15without communicating motion thereto and until its llower side 47 isbrought in contact with the lower arm of the oscillating lever 48, whenthe arm 48 is moved a slight distance only, thereby communicating apartial revolution to said supporting shaft 15, with which it is rigidlyconnected, whereby motion is communicated from said shaft 15 to thewater controlling valve mechanism 16, through the arm 49 and pivotalbolt 50. Vhen, however, said tilting tank 13 is brought back to litsnormal position, as previously described, its rear wall 51 is brought incontact with the upper arm 52 of said oscillating lever,whereby saidshaft 15 is revolved a partial revolution in the opposite direction,when motion is communicated therefrom through said arm 49 and pivotalbolt 50 to said valve mechanism 16, when the position of the valvestherein is reversed.

The nozzle 11 is preferably provided with a plurality of spray apertures53, through which the water is discharged therefrom in a spray againstthe inner wall of the keg, as shown in Fig. 4. I-n view of the fact thatthe cylinder 18 of the hydraulic hoist is caused to oscillate forwardlyand backwardly slightly as the piston therein is moved upwardly anddownwardly, it becomes necessary to pivotally connect the same at itslower end with .the supporting frame. 54 is a pivotalshaft by which thelower end of the cylinder 18 of the hoist -is pivotally connected withthe lower member of the supporting frame 84.

To provide for retaining the 'tilting tank 13 in its normal upright'position until nearly or quite filled with water, it becomes necessaryto yieldingly support the same in such position, while it is "beingfilled, and to accomplish such object, Ihave provided the same with aradial arm 55, which is pivotally connected with the rod 56'by thebolt57 and the lower end of said rod 56 is slidably i 15 connected withthe shaft 58, which shaft 58 is rigidly supported'at its opposite endfrom the frame member 14. The shaft 58 serves as a support for the lowerend of the -spring 59, and said spring is yieldingly supported betweensaid shaft 58 and the upper end of saidrod 56, said spring beingadapte-d by its 'recoil to bear-upwardly against the radial arm 55,acting through said pivotal bolt 57, whereby said tilting tank isretained in its normal position until nearly lled with water. When,however, the tilting tank has become nearly or quite filled with water.,it is moved downwardly by the gravity of the same, whereby the spring 594is compressed until said arm 55 has passed the central point betweenthe pivotal support 15, ofsaid tank, and the pivotal support- 58 of saidrod 56. When the radial arm 55 passessaid central point, it is thrown upupon the opposite .35 side thereof by the reco-il of said spring, whensaid tank is retained in its lower posi-A tion luntil thrown backl toits normal position, shown in Fig. 2, by the gravity of the keg as itisbeing removed from the frame, as previously described. It will beunderstood that by this arrangement, t-he shaft 15 will remain at restuntil the tilting tank 13 has been filled and brought in contact withthe lower arm 48 of the shaft actuating lever. That as soon as thetilting tank has been brought in contact with said lower arm, a partialrevolution is communicated therefrom, as stated, to said shaft 15, saidshaft is turned apartial revolution and the valves 50-connectedtherewith are operated, as previously described.

,It will be understood that as the piston 18 moves downwardly to thelower end of thecylinder, it becomes necessary to permit the water insuch cylinder to escape and such water is returned from said cylinder tothe valve mechanism 16 through said duct 26, when it enters the chamber43 upon the right hand side of the piston 41, when it escapes from saidvalve chamber 43 to the exterior, through the open end of the cylinder38 as indicated by the arrow upon the right.

' The walls of the cylinder 38 are.provided with a plurality of radial.apertures 60,

vthrough which the water passes from the inclosing chambers to and fromsaid cylinder.

As a means of starting the keg from the front end of the pivotallysupported frame 19, after the same has been raised to the positionindicated in dotted lines in Fig. l,

I have connected the rear `end of the keg supporting lever 1 with astationary portion of the main frame 34, through the link 61, said link61 being pivotally connected at its upper end with the rear end of saidlever 1, and also slidably connected at its lower -end with a stationaryportion of the main support-ing frame, as shown in. Fig. 1, where- So byas said tilting frame 19 is raised, the rear -end of said lever 1 isheld by said link,

as indicated in said Fig. 1, whereby its opposite end is thrownupwardly, as shown in dotted lines in said Fig. 1, and the keg u therebydischarged from the machine. It will of course be understood that whenthe pivotally supported frame 19 is brought back to the horizontalposition, shown in Figs. '2 and 4, the lever 28 which has previ` 90ously been thrown rearward by the weight of the vkeg passing over it, isbrought back and permitted to remain in its vnormal position shown inFigs. 2 and 4, until said tiltling frame -is again raised.

61 is a pet cock, which is connected with the lower end of the cylinder18', through whichi water may be withdrawn from the cylinder, when themachine is not in use.

162 is a valve, by which the admission of 100 water to the valvemechanism 16 and from vthence to the hydraulic lift, is controlled andregulated. It will be understood that if the valve 62 were left wideopen under a high water pressure, the keg will be too rapidly thrownfrom the supporting levers and for this'reason, it becomes important tobe rable to control the admission of water through the valve mechanismleading to said cylinder.

Having lthus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a stationary frame,a nozzle vertically supported from said frame, a water duct leading froma water supply to said nozzle, a frame `pivotally supported from saidstationary frame, a lever pivotally supported from said pivotallysupported frame in close proximity to ,said nozzle, a water controllingvalve located in said duct beneath said lever, said lever beingadaptedto be actuated by the weight of the keg when placed thereonaround said nozzle, and said valve being adapted to be operated by `saidlever, whereby water is admitted through said nozzle into said keg,means actuated by the pressure of the water fromthe supply for raisingone end of said Vpivoted frame 'after the keg is cleansed, a -valve forcontrolling the flow of water to said frame raising means, and meansactuated by the keg as it is rolled from the pivoted frame, for openingsaid last named water controlling valve, whereby the tilting frame isreturned to its normal position.

2. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a watercontrolling valve located in said duct, a stationary frame, a framepivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected to said pivoted frame and adapted to bear at one endupon the protruding stem of said valve, ahydraulic hoist for the pivotedframe, comprising a cylinder and piston, one of the members of saidhoist being connected with said 2ov stationary frame, and the othermember with said pivoted frame, a water duct com-y municating from saidwater supply with said hoist, a valve controlling the iow of waterthrough said last named duct, a tilting lever, means connected with saidtilting lever for operating said last named valve, whereby as a kegisplaced upon said nozzle,

said lever will be forced down, said iirst named valve will be opened,and said keg will be rinsed, automatically raised, and discharged fromthe machine.

8. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a watercontrolling valve located in said duct, a stationary frame, a pivoted.iframe pivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected at one end to said pivoted frame and adapted to bearat its opposite end upon the protruding stem of said valve, a hydraulichoist for the pivoted frame, a water duct communicating from said watersupply with said hoist, a valve controlling the flow of water throughsaid last named duct, a tilting tank pivotally supported below saidnozzle and adapted to be operated by the gravity of the water receivedfrom said keg, means for communicating motion from the pivotal supportof said tilting tank to said last named valve, whereby as said tiltingtank is operated by the gravity of water therein, said last named valvewill be opened, said hoist will be actuated, one end ot' said pivotedframe will be elevated, and said keg will be discharged therefrom.

4. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination 'of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a wate-rcontrolling valve located in said duct, a stationary frame, a framepivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected at one end to said pivoted Jframe and adapted tobear at its opposite end upon the protruding stem of said valve, ahydraulic hoist for the pivoted trame, a water duct communicating fromsaid water supply with said hoist, a valve controlling the iiow of waterthrough said last named duct, a tilting tank pivotally supported belowsaid nozzle and adapted to be operated by the gravity of the waterreceived from said keg, means for communicating motion from the pivotalsupport of said tilting tank to said last named valve, a ductcommunicating from said last named valve to said hoist beneath thepiston therein, means for communicating motion from said piston to saidpivoted frame, whereby as the cylinder of said hoist is illed withwater, the front end of said pivoted frame with the keg thereon, will beraised, a link connected at one end to the rear end ot said tiltinglever and at its opposite end to said stationary Jframe, said link beingadapted 'as the front end of said pivoted frame is raised to hold therear end of said tilting lever, whereby its front end is thrownrearwardly with said keg, andthe keg is thereby discharged from saidframe, means actuated by the keg as it rolls from said pivoted frame forreturning said tilting tank to its normal position, and means connectedwith'the tank supporting shaft for reversing the movement of the valveleading to the hoist, whereby the water is permitted to escapefrom saidhoist, and the piston therein is returned to its normal position by thegravity of said pivoted fra-me.

5. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a watercontrolling valvelocated in said duct, a stationary frame, a framepivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected at one end to said pivoted frame and adapted to bearat its opposite end upon the protruding stem of said valve, a hydraulichoist for the pivoted frame, a water duct communicating from said watersupply with said hoist, a valve controlling the flow ot' water throughsaid last named duct, a tilting tank pivotally supported below saidnozzle and adapted to be operated by the gravity y of the water receivedfrom said keg, means for communicating motion fromathe pivotal supportof said tilting tank to said last named valve,l a duct communicatingfrom said last named valve to said hoist beneath the piston therein,means for communicating motion from said piston to said pivoted frame,whereby as the cylinder of said hoist is filled with water, the frontend of said pivoted frame with the keg' thereon, will be raised, a linkconnected Aat one end to the rear end of said tilting lever and at itsopposite end to said stationary frame, said link being adapted as thefront end of said pivoted Jframe is raised to hold the rear end of saidtilting lever, whereby its front end is thrown rearwardly with 'saidkeg, and the keg is thereby discharged from said frame, a two armedlever pivotally supported from said inclinable frame, the upper arm ofsaid lever being located in the path of the keg as it passes over thepivoted frame and its opposite end being connected with said tiltingtank, whereby as said keg is discharged from said machine, said twoarmed lever will be actuated, said tilting tank will be restored to itsnormal position, and means connected with the tank supporting shaft forreversing the movement of the valve leading to the hoist, whereby thewater therein is permitted to escape and the piston is returned to itsnormal position by the gravity of said pivoted frame.

6. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a watercontrolling valve located in said duct, a stationary frame, a framepivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected at one end to said pivoted frame and adapted to bearat its opposite end upon the protruding stem of said valve, a hydraulichoist for the pivoted frame, a water duct communicating from said watersupply with said hoist, a valve controlling the iiow of water throughsaid last named duct, a tilting tank pivotally supported below saidnozzle and adapted to be operated by the gravity of the water receivedfrom said keg, means for communicating motion from the pivotal supportof said tilting tank to said last named valve, means for communicatingmotion from said piston to said pivoted frame, whereby as the cylinderof said hoist is lled with water, the front end of said pivoted framewith the keg thereon, will be raised, a link connected at one end to therear end of said tilting lever and at its opposite end to saidstationary frame, said `link being adapted as the front end of saidpivoted frame is raised to hold the rear end of said tilting lever,whereby its front end is thrown rearwardly with said keg, and the keg isthereby discharged from said frame, a two armed lever pivotallysupported from said pivoted frame, the upper arm of said lever beinglocated in the path of the keg as it passes over the pivoted frame andits opposite end being connected with said tilting tank, whereby as saidkeg is the movement of said tilting tank to open said valve, whereby thecontents of said hoist is permitted to escape when the piston in saidhoist is returned toits normal position by the gravity of said pivotedframe, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. In a machine for rinsing kegs, the combination of a spray nozzle, awater duct communicating from the water supply to said nozzle, a watercontrolling valve located in said duct, a stationary frame, a framepivotally connected at one end to said stationary frame, a leverpivotally connected at one end to said pivoted frame, and adapted tobear at its opposite end lupon the protruding stem of said valve, ahydraulic hoist for the pivoted frame, a water duct communicating fromsaid water supply with saidhoist, a valve controlling the iiow of waterthrough said last named duct, a receptacle for water located below saidnozzle, a tilting tank pivotally supported below said nozzle and adaptedto be operated by the gravity of the water received from said keg, twowater passages leadingfrom said receptacle, one leading to said tiltingtank and the other to a place of escape, means for controlling therelative quantities of water through said passages respectively, meansfor communicating motion `from the pivotal support of said tilting tankto said last named valve, whereby as said tilting tank is operated bythe gravity of water therein, said last named valve will be opened, saidhoist will be actuated, one end of said pivoted frame will be elevated,and said keg will be discharged therefrom.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGE D. PRENTICE.

Witnesses:

JAS. B. EnwIN, R. L. FARRINGTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner -of vPatents, Washington, D. C.

